Reed-organ



(No Model) t la A J. B. HAMILTON.

REED ORGAN.

Patented May Z4, 1887.

llt/newegf UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES vBAILLIE HAMILTON, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

REED-ORGAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 363,387, dated May 24,1887. Application died February 11l 1887. Serial No. 227,332. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, .IAMEs BAILLIE HAMIL- TON, a subject of the Queen ofGreat Britain, though residing in the city and county of Worcester, ofthe Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Reed-Organs; and I do hereby declare the same to bedescribed in the following specication and represented in theaccompanying drawings, of which* Figure l is a front elevation, and Fig.2 a vertical and median section, of two duplex 4reed-cells of areed-organ with my invention applied to them, the nature of the saidinvention being defined in the claims hereinafter presented. Fig. 3 is atop view of the valve C and its kneelever,showing the projectionextending from the lower arm of the said lever, of which leversuch valvemay be considered as a part. Fig. 4 is a front View, and Fig. 5 a sideview, of a valve, its operative spring, and actuating Wire or bar; andFig. 6 is a vertical section of such valve and its reedcell and thereeds thereof-the reed cell in such lastmentioned ligure being withoutthe bridges and the reeds being without the gates, as hereinafterdescribed-such ligure being to show how the valve and its operativelnechanism, as hereinafter explained, may be used with an ordinaryduplex reed-cell and its reeds arranged wholly within it.

In Figs. l and 2 of such drawings, A and A are two reed-cells orinduction airApassages, in each of which are two reeds, B, .inclinedrelatively to each other as represented. To the mouth of each of thesaidV cells there is a valve or pallet, C, which, when closed, bearsnear its upper and lower ends against two bridges, a, extendinghorizontally across the cell-mouth.

The spring for closing the valve is shown at s as furcated or having twobranches, to straddie the lower part of the valve kneelever and bearagainst a pin, t, that goes through the said valve knee'levertransversely. Thespring serves to return the valve to its seat, and onthe valve being turned down such spring will give Way and allow of such,and will hold the valve in position when so turned down.

Each of the reeds shown in Fig. 2 is provided with a flange or gate, b,that extends across it', and, when the reed is in place in its cell,bears against the front side of the next adjacent bridge, and serves toclose the port or opening that there is between the reed and the nextadjacent bridge, to enable the reed to be inserted into its socket orwithdrawn therefrom without obstruction from the reed-tongue or itsfastenings. In front of the said gate b there is in the reed a nick, c,to receive the end of a hook when used to extract the reed from itssocket.

The valve C is attached to the upper arm of a knee-lever, D, whosefulcrum is at f, the lower arm of such lever having extending from litlaterally a projection, t', to extend under a stud or button, h, on theactuating rod or bar g, leading to the key for operating the valve, thewhole being arranged so as to admit of the valve being turned down intoa horizontal position, as shown. in dotted lines in Fig. 2, aside of andwithout obstruction from the rod or bar g, one object of so turning downthe valve being to enable access to be had to the interior of thereed-cell, as occasion may require, for cleaning it of dust orotherwise.

There is through the upper arm of the valve shown in Fig. 2 an openingor passage, 7a, into which the lower reed projects more or less when thevalve is closed, such opening being to allow of the introduction of thereed into its socket in the cell, or its extraction therefrom, throughthe valve-lever D, without the necessity ot' requiring the valve to befirst moved off its seat.

In Figs. t and 5 the valve is shown at C, its knee-lever at D, and theprojection of the latter at z' to extend under the button or projection7L from the actuating wi re or bar g.

In Fig. 6 the reed-cell is shown at A as pro vided with the two reeds B,the mouth ofthe cell and the fr'ont ends of the reeds being covered bythe valve when closed.

Vith my improvement the valves of a series of reed-cells arranged inline, one over another, may be operated by a single wire or bar, g,suitably applied to a key.

To the. opening o, leading from each induction-chamber A into :itseduct-ion-chamber F, there is a sliding register or valve, E, forclosing such opening. In practice this slide is in one long piece ofmaterial, having openings through it to correspond with those ofthehorizontal range of induction and eductiou cham- IOO bers. On drawingthe slide lengthwise in one direction all the said openings of the saidchambers may be at once closed, and by running the slide the oppositeway all may be opened. The object of this slide is to prevent soundingthe reed, as occasion may require, when the valve thereof is open. Thecell for this valve I form by a saw-kerf, l, of a depth to correspondwith the thickness of the slide, and of a width greater than that of theslide, such kerf extending inwardly from the front m of the bar or blockin which the reeds are arranged. Into the anterior part of the kerfthere is inserted a narrow strip, n, of. wood, covered on its oppositesides with cloth or other suitable material, it being held in place byscrews extending from the upper edges of the reed-cells up through suchstrip and into the wood or material above it, one of such screws beingin each or every other reed-cell and over its reed. By means of thescrews the joint between the strip and upper and lower edges of the saidkerf can be iirml y closed, as occasion may require.

`1 claim- 1. The eombiuation,withfthe valve C, its op erative lever B,and actuating-wire y, arranged as represented-wiz., so that the valvewhile being turned down shall not be obstructed by the said wire-of thebutton h,`aixed to the wire, and of the projection extending from thelower arm of the said valve-lever underneath the said button, all beingsubstantially as described, in order to admit the valve on ,being turneddown of being moved out of, and on being turned up of being put into,engagement with the said wire, as explained.

2. The reed provided with the gate extending from it, as represented, toaid in closing thereed-entrance port of the reed receiving socket.

3. The reed air-induction passage or cell, provided with thereed-entrance port, and the bridge or bearing a for the reed gate andvalve to rest against, such bearing being at one end of such pass-ige,and all being substantially as represented.

4. The combination of the reed-induction passage or cell and the tworeeds arranged in its upper and lower parts and having gates to them, asset forth, with a single valve applied to such passage at one endthereof, and with bridges or bearings for the gates and the valve nearits upper and lower ends to rest against.

5. The slide-0rentoff cell, formed asdeseribed, and provided with theclosing-stri p n, fastened in place by screws arranged in the front ofthe reed-cells.

6. The combination of the valve, and an arm or knee-lever projectingtherefrom, with the aetuatingspring of the latter, and with thevalve-operative rod or bar provided with the button or shoulder,arranged so as to admit of said valve and arm or knee-lever being turneddown in a manner to carry the latter out of engagement with the rod 0rbar and the valve down to or nearly to ahorizontal position, and tocause said valve to be supported or held therein by the spring, suchspring, on the valve being raised to its seat, serving to press itclosely thereon.

JAMES BAILLIE HAMILTON.

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, H. B. MUNN.

